


Rogues, Fugitives and Wanted Criminals

by ByTheLightOfAThousandSuns



Category: Jack West Jr Series - Matthew Reilly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-02 13:09:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5249387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ByTheLightOfAThousandSuns/pseuds/ByTheLightOfAThousandSuns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack West Jr and his battered team are brought back into the fray again, but this time for a very different mission. When a supposedly straight forward task for an opposing team takes a turn for the worse, it is down to Jack and his friends to undo the mess that has been made. But as things start to become more and more sinister, no one's loyalty is above question.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You owe me

First Mission - Retrieval 

Dimona Nuclear Research Centre, Israel, 29 March 2010.

Five days to first encounter.

Sitting behind his desk in the relative coolness of his lair, The Old Master watched the video screen expectantly, waiting for his caller. The air around him sat heavy and stale, the pungent oder of formaldehyde hovering all around him. Of course he was used to it by now, so used to it that he barely even noticed.  
As he waited, he looked up at the array of tanks on the far wall, and smiled. A few of the people inside were alert, looking around themselves dazedly. The rest were asleep. His smile quickly became a frown though when his eyes came to rest on the fourth tank along from the door. It was the only empty tank in the room, the newly repaired manacles hanging open, almost expectantly. He shook his head, grumbling to himself as he sat back in his chair, waiting.  
A moment later, the light in the corner of the screen began to flash and beep. He had a video call.  
Pausing a moment for effect, he reached out, pressed the button and the call became live. The image on the screen was darkened, but it was easy enough to make out the features of the man whom he was speaking to.  
‘General Muniz,’ the man spoke with an nondescript accent, impossible to place, ‘so glad you could take the time to talk.’  
‘Anything for an old friend,’ Muniz greeted him with a small, thin smile, which was not returned, ‘what is it you want me to do for you?’  
‘I’m calling in a favour,’ the man’s tone did not change, ‘a bit late I know, but I trust it still stands.’  
‘Of course.’  
‘Good. I require a few of your best agents for a task,’ even through the semi blackness of the screen, Muniz could tell the man was staring him down, waiting for his response.  
In all honesty, he was a little shocked, although of course he did not show it, he was too experienced for that. This was not the sort of favour he had been expecting.  
He cleared his throat purposefully before he spoke again, ‘may I ask what this task is?’  
‘Something that requires the best of the best. And I am well aware that I must come to you for that.’  
Well, that was true, Muniz had to agree. And even though he had not agreed yet, in his mind he had already selected the perfect agents for the task. It was a simple deduction to make. On the screen, his caller already seemed to know that he had people in mind, because he tilted his head expectantly.  
‘We have a deal General?’  
‘Perhaps. Before I send you anyone, I want to know every detail of this mission. I will not send my best agents on something that could cost them their lives for the sake of a favour.’  
For a long moment there was no reply, as the man seemed to smile softly, shaking his head ever so slightly on screen. Eventually he sighed, ‘I suppose this level of suspicion was to be expected. You wouldn’t have made it this far without it. Tell you what, Mordecai, I’ll make you a deal. I am expecting a great deal of profit from this mission. You lend me your agents, no questions asked, and I will give you a generous share. Fair?’  
Muniz waited a very long time to give his answer, his eyes never leaving the screen or the man who was smiling softly in the shadows. 

 

The home of Jack West Jr, Australia, 2nd April 2010.

First encounter.

Lily West sat on the window sill, headphones in, nodding her head in time to the music. She was gazing out of the dusty glass pane at the bare desert which stretched away far into the distance. At this time of day, the setting sun was casting an amber glow across the sand, giving the earth a reddish tinge. It was beautiful.  
She smiled to herself, before dipping the nail brush back into the pot in order to give her nails another coat of the silver polish, not the usual pink. Now at fifteen years old, she was growing up fast. Too fast for the likings of Zoe and Jack, who seemed to be in a habit of shaking their heads whenever she did something they weren’t expecting.  
At the thought of her mum, Lily looked up to see Zoe standing over her. Her adopted mother smiled warmly in her usual way, and gestured for Lily to take out the headphones. Lily obliged.  
‘I tried calling you a few times,’ Zoe said, in her soft, lilting Irish accent, ‘can we get your help outside honey?’  
Giving her freshly painted nails a mournful look, Lily started to slide off the window seat, ‘sure thing. What’s up?’  
‘Oh, not a lot. Your father decided on a whim that the roof needed fixing, so he managed to rope Stretch and Pooh-Bear in to give him a hand, but they somehow broke the ladder and now we have to put it back together, otherwise they will be spending a very cold night on the roof.’  
Lily had to giggle slightly at that. It didn’t matter how quickly she was growing up, the antics of her family would forever be amusing. She followed Zoe out into the yard and around the side of the house.  
The first person she saw was Pooh-Bear. The rotund Arab was standing and staring up at the roof, shielding his eye from the afternoon sun. Bushy bearded and chubby with an eyepatch over his left eye, perhaps some people would have mistaken him for fierce. But to Lily he was nothing more than a giant teddy bear with a massive heart.  
He turned as they approached and smiled, obviously finding this whole thing very amusing, ‘I told Stretch he was too heavy for the ladder.’  
‘Fuck you!’ someone called from up on the roof and a hand appeared, flipping Pooh-Bear off.  
‘Swear Jar,’ Lily called back.  
A face appeared over the edge of the roof. It was the face of Jack West Jr, her adopted father. He smiled when he saw her, and waved, the sun glinting off his mechanical left arm. At the moment he was dressed in casual clothes, jeans and a plain shirt which was covered in dust. But these did little to disguise his military physique. And Lily knew first hand how much of a badass her father was. How much all of them were.  
She turned back to Zoe, and the pretty Irish woman smiled, her big blue eyes gleaming in the setting sun, ‘I suppose we should get to work then.’  
With the three of them working on it, they managed to get the ladder back together in no time. Jack slid down it swiftly, dusting off his hands as he landed neatly on his feet. A second later, a second man clambered down. Tall and thin, with angular features, this was Stretch. He smiled at her, then whacked Pooh-Bear across the arm.  
‘Thanks for the help Lily,’ Jack said, coming over to Zoe and wrapping and arm around her waist, ‘I thought I was going to have to jump for a second there.’  
Lily laughed, knowing the truth behind his words, ‘I’ll see you guys inside. I have to fix my nails.’  
Stepping back into the coolness of the house, Lily removed her dust caked shoes and moved back to her window seat. In the years following the capstone mission and the race to place the pillars, they had gradually begun to make the new farmhouse into a home. Their original one, which had been presumably destroyed in a raid, hadn’t been inhabited long enough for Lily to really make it her own. But they had been here for years now, with no incidence. The walls of the large farmhouse were covered in framed photographs of all the normal memories which they had built up over time. Her school photographs took pride of place over the mantle piece, surrounded by other pictures of her, including a few of her at various dance competitions. Zoe and Jack had spent hours organising the little collection, trying to make them look perfect, acting as any normal proud mother and father would as they doted over their child.  
Although, they weren’t the only ones who doted. Aside from her parents, Pooh-Bear, Stretch and Sky-Monster, a slightly crazy pilot from New Zealand, were now dubbed as her uncles. Because all of them had played such an important role in raising her, they doted on her just as much as Jack and Zoe did. She was without doubt one of the most spoiled kids in existence, she had come to realise, although they would never allow that to go to her head. And she respected all of them far too much to let it. They were, after all, her family.  
She had just settled herself down to begin to fix her nails, which had been all but destroyed by fixing the ladder, when something caught her eye. Turning, she glanced into the room just opposite her, at a computer screen which was just visible through the partially open door. It was a radar scanner, hooked up to various satellites and other devices around the farm, giving a clear picture of any potential incoming vehicles. On the screen, a tiny green dot was blinking close to the centre. She frowned as she stepped into the room, examining it closer. The signal didn’t look familiar at all.  
Quickly she turned to another computer and checked the security cameras around the farm. The ones near the farmhouse and the barn showed nothing unusual, just the team outside still, and Sky Monster by the hanger with his place the Sky Warrior. However, when she flipped over to check the camera’s closest to the mine entrance, probably the most important place on the farm, she froze. Sitting outside, was a helicopter. An unmarked helicopter which she didn’t recognise at all.  
Flinging herself out of the room, she sprinted out of the farmhouse, bare feet thudding the dust, ‘Dad!’ she yelled, waving her arms above her head, ‘Dad! Mum! Stretch! Pooh-Bear! Intruders!’  
The team turned to her as she skidded to a halt in front of them, ‘Intruders. There’s a helicopter by the mine. I don’t recognise it. Someones found us!’  
Lily didn’t think she had ever seen her fathers face become so dark, so fast. Almost the second the words were out of her mouth, his smile became a deadly glare and he nodded. Something in his bright blue eyes sparked to life again, something which had been dormant for the past few years. He turned to the others whose faces were sombre.  
‘Get your gear. Then get to the quad bikes. I want us to be at that mine in fifteen minutes. Move!’  
They didn’t need to be told twice, they were soldiers, they knew exactly what to do. As they sprinted into the house, Jack turned to Lily who was standing there, a determined look on her face. She wanted to help. She was more than capable.  
Instead though, Jack just shook his head, ‘not this time Lily. Not when we don’t know who they are. I want you on the monitors. Tell me if anything changes or if anyone else tries to storm our property.’  
‘But dad…’ Lily started to protest but Jack cut her off gently but firmly.  
‘No Lily. We have no idea who these guys are. I need you here and safe. Got it.’  
She glared at him, annoyed at his refusal to let her help. She was more than old enough. Heck, she’d been doing these kinds of things since she was ten years old. She had practically been raised to fight. But he still wouldn’t let her help. He was still staring at her, waiting for her answer.  
Eventually she nodded, knowing she didn’t have a choice, ‘Got it.’  
‘Good. Now get inside.’


	2. Sloppiness or Arrogance?

The home of Jack West Jr, Australia, 2nd April 2010.

First Encounter.

The quad bikes roared over the dusty plain at near breakneck speed. Jack drove the first one, with Zoe clinging to his waist, and close behind Stretch drove the second, with Pooh-Bear clinging on behind him. Back at the house, a disappointed Lily had been left with Sky Monster, who had strict orders to flee if things went wrong.   
His eyes narrowed, Jack zeroed in on the mine up ahead, focusing on the small opening in the rocky foot hills. Inside that mine was something that he had deemed too powerful, too dangerous, for the world. Five pillars which had been used to save the world a few years ago, by activating an ancient machine inside the Earth itself. Each of the five pillars held a unique reward, knowledge, heat, sight, life and death. The mission to retrieve these pillars had been hard, one of the most dangerous missions Jack had ever partaken in, and it had cost the lives of people very dear to Jack. Because of the power of these pillars and their corrupting influence, Jack had decided to lock them away from the world where their rewards could never be used by mankind.   
Internally he hoped that this was just a false alarm, that no one was actually after the pillars and that this was some kind of honest mistake. But if it wasn’t, whoever had dared set foot on his land was going to get their ass seriously kicked.   
Kicking up a cloud of dust, the two bikes skidded to twin halts on either side of the entrance. Killing the engine, Jack leapt down. Zoe followed quickly, her guns already out and ready. For a long moment they just stared at the entrance.   
It had indeed been tampered with. Explosives, obviously placed expertly, had opened up a gap in the rubble which had previously been blocking the tunnel. Now it was open, yawning wide and black. A little way in, a glow stick illuminated part of the rocky wall in dim, yellow light.   
So some one had dared to break in. Jack’s teeth ground at the thought. But it was more out of annoyance at himself than anything. That they had made it this far and he hadn’t even noticed until Lily had told him. He was getting slow. And that idea rightfully annoyed him.   
Wasting no time he turned to the team and gestured to the door, ‘we go in, now. Everyone be prepared, we don’t know who these bastards are or what they’re capable of, so use caution. Stretch I want you on point, shoot to wound, not to kill.’  
The Israeli nodded in understanding, unslinging his rifle. Jack followed in just behind him, snapping on his NGV’s. Slowly, they entered the mine.   
For a long while, nothing seemed out of place, save for the occasional glow stick on the floor. There were no sounds, it was almost eerily quiet. Maybe they had already gone, Jack thought in horror, maybe he was too late.  
From behind him, Pooh-Bear whispered cautiously, ‘does it not seem odd. They haven’t even tried to conceal their arrival.’  
‘A sign of sloppiness?’ Zoe queried from where she was bring up the rear.  
‘Or arrogance,’ Stretch muttered.   
‘Whatever it is,’ Jack spoke quietly, staring intently through his goggles, ‘we’re not taking chances. We have to stop them from taking the pillars.’  
After a few hundred meters, the tunnel ended at a door. It was wooden and old in appearance, although this was more for effect on the urging of Lily. It was also covered in Egyptian hieroglyphics and a strange spindly writing, almost like Cuneiform. The word of Thoth. An ancient language that only Lily and one other person in the world could read. All throughout history, there was only one line of people who could read this language; the descendants of the Oracle of Siwa, of which Lily was the most recent.   
The seal across the door though had indeed been broken. Stretch looked back at Jack, silently asking if he should proceed. Jack nodded without so much of a blink. Slowly and carefully they opened the door, all guns pointed inward at the room. It was dark inside but the NGVs illuminated it in phosphorescent green. Practically holding his breath, Jack scanned the entirety of the room only to see… nothing. There was no one in there.   
Standing upright and lowering his gun, Jack stepped inside the room followed by the others. He frowned. This wasn’t right. Taking off his NGVs and turning on his torch he approached the pedestal in the middle of the room. It was a large stone slab, very plain but covered in a dusty cloth. And there, nestled snuggly on small stands were the five diamond pillars. They glowed ethereally in the torch light, their clear surfaces glinting, silver cores fully visible. Despite the dust all around them, there didn’t seem to be any on the pillars themselves, it was as if they repelled it. Each was perfectly oblong and about the size a brick. Even without their rewards they would have been beyond valuable.   
Jack frowned. The seal on the door had been broken, the intruders had been in here. But the pillars were still there, untouched. He turned to his team and shook his head.   
‘They’re all here,’ he said, ‘they didn’t take them.’  
Stepping forward, Zoe stared down at the pillars, confusion all over her face, ‘what the…’  
It was at that exact moment, everything went to shit.  
Before he even knew what was happening, Jack felt as he was pinned back against a wall, knocked aside with ease. His gun was pulled away before he could blink and the cold barrel of a pistol was placed to his head.  
As this was happening, he heard the simultaneous thuds and shouts as his entire team was brought down in mere seconds. Around the gun pressed to his head, Jack could see just about everything. Zoe was on the opposite wall, knife to her throat. Pooh-Bear was standing stock still near the pillars, gun pointed at his temple. Stretch was on the floor, being pinned by someone else. Looking away from his team, Jack looked to his own attacker.  
Their eyes were covered by NGV’s, but the stubble on the jaw line confirmed it was a man. Dressed all in black, with a fitted helmet and chest armour, he was obviously a professional. The other members of his team were dressed in the same way, all in black, their identities obscured by their helmets and goggles.  
The man pinning Jack suddenly spoke, and even though he didn’t turn, it was clear that he was addressing his team, not Jack. He didn’t speak in English, and Jack didn’t recognise the language immediately. It sounded a little like Arabic, but not entirely. However, catching sight of Stretch in his peripheral vision, he saw him raise his head, as if he understood it. Hebrew. These soldiers were Israeli.  
Shit, Jack thought to himself.  
A second later, he saw someone else approach the pillars, a fifth figure who appeared from the shadows as if they had been there the whole time. Jack hadn’t seen them enter. Whoever it was, they moved eerily silently, by passing Pooh-Bear and his assailant calmly. With care and grace, they opened a Samsonite case, and very gently began transferring the pillars, taking each from its stand with gloved hands, and placing them snugly into the padding of the case.   
‘No,’ Jack started to protest, but the gun was pressed down harder and he stopped.  
‘Please don’t fight Captain West. We don’t want to shed blood where we don’t have to,’ the man pinning him down spoke with a kind of gentle firmness which belied the gun and the entire situation.  
From the floor, Stretch suddenly looked up, as if confused, ‘Dracula? What are you doing?’  
Jack shot Stretch a curious look. He knew these people? That probably wasn’t good. The man holding Jack, Dracula, didn’t turn his attention from Jack for a second as he spoke. Obviously he knew enough about Jack to know that if he turned his attention away, he was giving Jack the upper hand. Under the mans watchful gaze, Jack knew that he could do absolutely nothing. If he moved, he was well aware that he would die.  
‘Orders are orders, Archer,’ Dracula said softly, ‘do yourself a favour and stay still. The last thing I want to do is kill you.’  
The soldier by the pillars had just finished putting the last one in the case. They snapped it shut promptly and picked it up. Only then did Dracula look away, only briefly, to nod at his troops. Orders were given, again in Hebrew, and when Stretch went to try to translate a hand was clapped over his mouth by the huge man pinning him.  
Keeping their guns up, Dracula and his team backed out of the room, the person with the pillars going first, Dracula going last, staring at Jack the whole time. Unarmed and helpless, Jack could only watch as they left.  
Stepping through the door, Dracula began to close it behind him, ‘just in case, you understand.’  
The door slammed shut, plunging the world into total blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figure that even Jack West Jr can be held still with a gun to his head if he is surprised. That is my explanation for why he didn't fight.


	3. Run run as fast as you can

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is cranky.

The home of Jack West Jr, Australia, 2nd April 2010.

One hour after first encounter. 

By the time Lily and Sky Monster made it to them to unlock the door, Jack was in an absolutely foul mood. They had lost the pillars. All five of them were gone. Despite him taking every precaution known to man to ensure they would never be found, it hadn’t been enough. They had found him, and with seemingly no effort, they had taken them. He didn’t even know who they were and that angered him even more. Perhaps he could have asked Stretch, considering that he had seemed to recognise them, but Jack honestly didn’t trust his temper at that moment. The heavy wooden door already bore several dents from where he had punched it with his metal fist.   
He was pacing when at last the door was opened and light from two torches flooded in. Lily was standing in the doorway, flanked by the potbellied, hairy form of Sky Monster, their resident pilot.   
Upon seeing Jack’s murderous expression, Sky Monster had to comment, ‘went that well huh?’  
Jack stormed past him, ‘have they gone?’  
‘Yeah, seems from the security footage they flew away ages ago,’ Sky Monster shrugged.   
‘Any chance of catching them?’  
‘No way. My baby’s fast, but she ain’t that fast. Those guys have had at least an hour’s head start and even in a chopper that’s a long time. They’d have changed into an aeroplane and be half way over the Indian Ocean by the time we even got into the air.’  
‘Not to mention we don’t even know where they’re going,’ Zoe said gently.  
Jack’s fists clenched in frustration. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not after he had been so sure that everything was going to be normal from then on. He needed to get those pillars back before they ended up in the wrong hands. He had fought too hard and lost too much to simply let they go without a fight. The mission to retrieve them and place them had very nearly destroyed his team, heck, it had almost destroyed him. Then, when against all the odds they had won, he had vowed that he would never let the power of the pillars be used.   
He had seen what it had done to Lily. A cold shiver ran down his spine at the very memory of those cold, black eyes…  
Shaking himself out of his train of thought, Jack gritted his teeth. He was going to get those pillars back.   
Once they were out of the tunnel, Jack spun to face Stretch, ‘where are they going?’  
‘You think I know?’  
‘You knew who they were. They were Israeli’s,’ Jack said, ‘they’ll take them back to Israel?’  
‘Not necessarily,’ Stretch shrugged apologetically, appearing sheepish that he didn’t know the answer, ’look Jack, I don’t know where they plan on taking them.’  
‘Who were they?’  
‘Let’s just say they’re people that you don’t want to cross.’

 

Airspace over Indian Ocean, 2nd April 2010. 

Three hours after first encounter.

The sleek private jet rocketed over the Indian Ocean, heading in the direction of Europe. The sun had set, casting the undulating ocean beneath the plane into darkness. In the plush, cream coloured cabin, the team of six were scattered about, doing nothing in particular. It was a long flight, they had plenty of time to get the things done that they needed to.  
On the far side of the plane, up by the cockpit, a middle aged man stood over the case which held the pillars. It was open, the radiant pillars on full display, nestled in the spongy material. He stood with his hand on his chin, brows furrowed in thought. With a weathered face, brown eyes and dark hair, which was streaked with grey at the temples, he could have been confused with just any old family man. But his fit build and the scars which were just visible above his collar gave away that he was anything but ordinary.   
‘Dracula, what are you doing?’  
He turned away from the pillars when someone spoke from behind him. A young woman, only in her early thirties stood a few feet away looking up at him with disconcertingly pale eyes. He hadn’t heard her approach, but then again, that wasn’t unusual. She continued to stare at him, not blinking, until eventually he replied.   
‘Just examining them, I suppose,’ he turned back to the pillars, ‘they have a certain, allure, to them.’  
She came right up beside him, again in her soundless, graceful way. His second in command out in the field, she was a tiny, delicate woman, with dead straight black hair, cut into a neatly tamed bob. Her wide eyes almost never seemed to blink, and very few had ever seen a genuine smile from her. She was, however, a brilliant tactician, and one of the most talented snipers he had ever encountered.   
‘The rewards do make them valuable.’  
Dracula frowned slightly, ‘rewards? Wraith, what do you mean?’  
Her sharp, pale face twisting into a tiny smile, she reached out and shifted one of the pillars so Dracula could see the markings on the topmost side, ‘Aphrodite and I were doing some research on them. The pillars, once cleansed and placed at their vertex, were endowed with some kind of reward. There were six in total, as you know.’  
‘But the sixth was lost.’  
‘Exactly. The sixth pillar was the most valuable. Its reward was power. Terrible power, the ability to enforce your will over someone else’s.’  
Dracula raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her, ‘how do you know all of this?’  
‘Our contact. Honestly Dracula, you’re in charge around here, you should know all of this.’  
He shrugged, a little embarrassed, ‘it slipped my mind this time Wraith. What about the other five?’  
Shifting each pillar in turn, and pointing to the markings down the bottom which indicated what number they were, Wraith explained, ‘the first one is knowledge, the second one is heat, the third is sight and the fourth and fifth are life and death.’  
As she was explaining to him, Dracula’s brow furrowed deeper. He had of course known that these pillars were valuable. But if the rewards were as great as Wraith was saying, and considering their contact had witnessed first hand the power of the sixth pillar, he was seriously starting to doubt how wise handing them over was.   
Quickly he shook his head, knocking the thought aside. He had a mission. And he had never disobeyed an order before. Looking back down at Wraith, he saw that she was watching him curiously.   
‘Yes Wraith?’ he sighed, knowing she wanted to ask him question simply based on her expression.   
She simply continued to stare at him, as if she was trying to figure out the best way to voice her question. Eventually she seemed to come to a decision. When she spoke again it was in a low tone, as if to ensure that the other members of the team couldn’t hear her.  
‘You let him go.’  
Dracula thought for a second, then nodded in understanding, ‘yes I did.’  
‘Why? He was right there, we could have grabbed him as we left. Goliath had him pinned, he was helpless.’  
‘Because I had no interest in challenging Captain West further. We got lucky when we snatched the pillars, we managed to jump him, which I wasn’t sure we would be able to do. But if we had tried to take his friend as well, I doubt we would have made it out alive. You saw what they did to Dimona, how far they were prepared to go. We had the upper hand in there this time, but it was only marginal.’  
She didn’t speak, but her expression and the slight inclination of her chin told him that she acknowledged what he was saying as right. Looking away from her, Dracula took one last look at the pillars, at their illustrious power which radiated from them, before quickly slamming the case shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introduction to two of my OC's. Plenty more of them to come.


	4. Desperate times, Desperate measures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack has a plan!

Dimona Nuclear Research Centre, Israel, 2nd April 2010

‘They succeeded.’  
A soft female voice from in front of him made Muniz look up from his desk. Standing before him was a woman, whom he hadn’t heard enter. She smiled at him thinly, her blue eyes ice cold and stony, seemingly impervious to emotion. Currently she stood rigidly, ignoring the extra seat barely a ruler’s length from her.  
‘You descended from your nest to tell me this?’ Muniz was a little surprised, ‘normally you simply call.’  
‘There’s more,’ she said, inclining her head ever so slightly, ‘Captain West and his team are mobilising. I believe they plan to retrieve the pillars.’  
Muniz scoffed, sitting back in his chair, ‘there is no way they will be able to find our agents now. Eagle Eye, why are you bothering to tell me this?’  
The woman didn’t seem fazed at all, she just stared at him in her cold, cold way, her pitiless stare reflecting his own, ‘You don’t believe this is an issue Old Master? Surely you of all people should know not to underestimate him, or any of his companions. Not after what they managed to do.’  
His teeth grinding a little, Muniz looked her up and down, ‘what is your point?’  
‘That you should listen to me,’ she replied bluntly.  
He couldn’t argue with that. This woman, Eagle Eye, was perhaps the only person who he tolerated talking to him like this. Not even the other Mossad Masters could get away with it. Very few people knew why she commanded such a high level of respect, most just assumed that it was due to her unique information gathering skills. One of the world’s most skilled computer minds, she seemed to know almost everything, very often before anyone else did. This was part of the reason why she was allowed so much leniency. Muniz needed her, and all of Mossad seemed to know it.  
‘Very well,’ he gestured for her to speak, ‘what makes you so sure that Captain West will pose any threat?’  
‘Because he has Lieutenant Cohen,’ Eagle Eye said and at once Muniz’s eyes narrowed.  
‘Cohen can do nothing,’ his voice lowered to a near growl as he spoke, eyes flicking almost subconsciously to the empty tank, ‘he no longer has the means to access any of the information, not without us knowing at once.’  
‘Maybe not. But he will remember things,’ one long slender finger tapped her cheek absently as she spoke, ‘things like, who holds the mission files for agents for example.’  
‘You surely don’t think they are fool enough to-’  
‘I think a desperate man is fool enough to do anything Old Master. And as Captain West’s history has surely shown you, there is very little he is not willing to do.’

Jack’s farm, Australia, 2 April 2010.

Five hours after first confrontation.

Jack paced back and forth in the living room, his mind working in over drive as he tried to formulate a plan to get the pillars back. The others sat around him, watching him, waiting for him to speak. Lily’s attempts to get him to do anything other than pace had so far been unsuccessful, and now she was sitting right beside Zoe, her dark eyes wide with concern. So far she really had no idea what had happened down in the mine, only that the pillars had been taken.   
Eventually Jack stopped still, his eyes loosing focus as he gazed at the window at the darkened plain outside. He was calculating, formulating a plan. Everyone waited with baited breath to see what it would be.   
He turned to them at last, and his jaw was set, ‘who does that team work for?’  
While he never appeared to direct the question to any of them in particular, they all knew who it was aimed at. Beside Pooh-Bear, Stretch shifted uncomfortably, obviously knowing the answer but seeming disinclined to tell them. Jack just stared at him, blue eyes hard as he waited.   
‘Mossad,’ Stretch said at last, ‘they work for Mossad.’  
‘And would they have taken the Pillars back to the Masters?’ Jack asked.   
‘Maybe. I don’t know.’  
‘Okay, well does Mossad ever hire agents out?’ Jack seemed to be getting little impatient, his temper already worn thin by what had happened.  
‘I…I don’t-’   
Folding his arms, Jack closed his eyes and shook his head, ‘yes or no.’  
There was a long delay, before a very soft murmur of, ‘sometimes.’  
With a nod, Jack sat down opposite them, right beside Lily. The young girl looked at her father in concern, well aware that this kind of behaviour wasn’t normal from him. But she stayed silent, knowing it was best to stay out of it for now. Beside Stretch, Pooh-Bear was watching his friend, making sure that he was okay with all the questions that were being fired at him. Unfortunately, given the nature of the questions, no one else could answer them.   
After a while, Jack spoke again, ‘if they were working for someone else, who would know about it?’  
‘The Masters.’  
‘The Old Master?’  
Stretch visibly stiffened at the name, but he still answered, his voice calm but seemingly only by force, ‘presumably him as well. He usually approves these things anyway.’  
Sitting back, Jack rubbed his jaw and sighed. He had a plan, of sorts. But it all relied on finding out where those agents were going. His gaze flicked over his team mates, then to Lily who was still sitting beside him.   
‘If we can find out what the Masters know, then we can find out where the pillars are going,’ he said slowly.   
The entire team looked at him, in both shock and a small amount of apprehension. Her eyebrows raised, Zoe tilted her head to one side as she spoke, sounding a little uncertain, ‘Jack, you’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting? Are you?’  
Despite himself, Jack couldn’t help but smile slightly as he looked at his wife. Slowly he nodded, confirming that she was, as usual, correct, ‘We’re going to see what information we can get from the Old Master.’  
Across the room, Stretch sat up right, ‘you have to be fucking joking!’  
In reply, Jack just shook his head, ‘I’m not. Do you know where he lives?’  
Stretch didn’t reply, he just threw up his hands, stood and stalked out of the room, ‘you’re absolutely insane. No fucking way.’  
Almost at once, Pooh leapt up and followed after him, leaving Jack, Zoe, Sky Monster and Lily. Seated in one of the arm chairs, Sky Monster exhaled, ‘that could have gone better.’  
Turning to Zoe and Lily, Jack saw their expressions. One of Zoe’s eyebrows was raised in amusement as she studied her husband and Lily had adopted the exact same expression, mimicking it perfectly.   
‘Too far?’ Jack asked.  
‘Too far,’ Lily agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another OC. Trust me, there are many.


End file.
